The publicized mishaps — they shouldn't be called scandals — in recent years by Air Force and Navy personnel in charge of nuclear weapons give the White House and Congress a chance to rethink the U.S. deterrence mission before returning airmen to those buried missile silos or sending sailors off on new strategic submarine patrols. On Friday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced plans to spend billions over the next five years to remedy what he called "systemic problems" in the U.S. nuclear deterrent. That consists of more than 2,000 land- and sub-launched missile warheads and bombs on hundreds of aging delivery systems. The United States also plans to...

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The publicized mishaps — they shouldn't be called scandals — in recent years by Air Force and Navy personnel in charge of nuclear weapons give the White House and Congress a chance to rethink the U.S. deterrence mission before returning airmen to those...

Maybe it is time for a shake-up.President Obama's second-term staffing was always going to be a risk. He abandoned his first term's team of rivals for a closer-knit team of loyalists. The bet was that he was assured enough in the job to no longer need the...

Before the world witnessed the full force of the Islamic State's brutality in the video this past week showing American journalist James Foley's murder, a different video revealed another kind of destruction the terrorist group is bent on inflicting.
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BRUSSELS —The United States joined NATO and Poland Wednesday in warning about the risk of Russia sending troops into Ukraine after saying President Vladimir Putin massed soldiers on his country's western border. Russia said the reports of its military...

President Obama's pick to be his U.S. Defense Secretary may have a particularly difficult time winning over one Pennsylvania GOP senator.
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The conflict that has torn Syria apart can be traced, in part, to a record drought worsened by global warming, a new study says. In what scientists say is one of the most detailed and strongest connections between violence and human-caused climate change,...

Ashton Carter, President Obama’s nominee for secretary of Defense, said at his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday that he was “very much inclined” to provide lethal arms to Ukrainian forces fighting Russia-backed separatists, staking out a position...

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned on Monday, leaving under pressure as President Barack Obama faces critical national security challenges, including fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and revising plans to exit Afghanistan.
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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday his resignation last week was not prompted by "major differences" with President Barack Obama, pushing back against statements that he had been fired or quit due to White House...

The U.S. capital marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery where Vice President Joe Biden said the 23 million U.S. veterans were the backbone of the nation.The commemoration at Arlington, where more than 40,000 military...

Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's nominee to replace Chuck Hagel as U.S. defense secretary, has undergone a long-planned surgical procedure on his back ahead of his confirmation process in the Senate, the White House said on Friday.White House...

Even as a young man, Ashton Carter had eclectic interests, earning degrees in physics and medieval history at Yale, and a doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
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Clifford Sloan, the State Department envoy responsible for negotiating prisoner transfers from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is resigning, officials said on Monday. The surprise announcement of Sloan's departure followed a flurry of...

Sexual assaults reported by U.S. military troops rose 8 percent in 2014 amid signs that victims are increasingly confident about reporting the attacks, defense officials said on Wednesday ahead of the formal release of the annual figures. Defense...

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As the president and various governors have argued about what to do, or not do, about Ebola, the philosopher George Santayana's warning repeatedly popped into my consciousness: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
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Turkey's parliament authorized the government on Thursday to order military action against Islamic State as the insurgents tightened their grip on a Syrian border town, sending thousands more Kurdish refugees into Turkey.
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President Barack Obama, senior cabinet officials and his defense and intelligence chiefs will meet with U.S. lawmakers this week and next as the administration seeks support for an offensive against Islamic State militants.Obama will deliver a...

President Obama said he will explain to Americans and congressional leaders this week his plan to "start going on some offense" against Islamic State militants, who he said could eventually become a threat to the United States.
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